We live blogged the U.S. stock market\’s action on Tuesday. You can read a wrap of pre-market actions here and — shortly after the opening bell — get a compact rundown of the stock market in Market Snapshot.

Russia’s foreign ministry warned Tuesday that any use of force by Ukrainian authorities to dislodge pro-Kremlin separatists who have seized control of government buildings in three cities in eastern Ukraine could plunge the country into civil war.

U.S. stocks “appear to be stabilizing suggesting that the two day selloff that followed Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report may have run its course and is subsiding for now,” says Colin Cieszynski, senior analyst at CMC Markets, in emailed comments on Tuesday.

He notes that there’s not that much for investors to grab at in terms of economic data, so it’s all about earnings season and how the rough winter might have hurt results.

“Economic news in North America has been light to start the week so attention now turns toward earnings season which starts with Alcoa’s results after US exchanges close this afternoon,” he writes.

“Results over the next month may give another indication of which parts of the economy were most impacted by winter storms (and we can expect that weather will likely get the blame for any shortfalls).”

“With the recent period of weakness I’ve begun looking for some setups of markets testing support and showing signs of potential mean-reversion, and I think the First Trust Internet ETF ($FDN) looks interesting here,” Thrasher writes.

Today’s calendar is light on economic news. So, all eyes are on earnings.

“Investors already lowered their expectations for the first-quarter earnings and it is not the results themselves but the forward guidance that will be key,” said Chris Gaffney, senior market strategist, EverBank.

“The selling of high-momentum stocks is not surprising as their valuations were too high. We are now seeing a rotation from those high-flying companies into large-cap cyclicals and dividend-paying defensive stocks,” he added.

With all its faults and the dangers highlighted in the system, and in the news lately, could high frequency trading actually benefit the average investor? Capital One Sharebuilder President Dan Greenshields discusses. Photo: Getty.

The stock market slide in recent days, after the S&P 500’s 30%-plus surge last year, doesn’t represent the bursting of a bubble.

That’s crucial to consider, given the comparisons made by some pundits between the current market and that of March 2000, when tech stocks started evaporating.

Whatever else you might say about today’s stock market, it is nowhere near as overheated as it was 14 years ago. And that’s not a subjective view. My conclusion is derived from a data-driven focus on objective measures that were identified by the leading academic study of investor sentiment.

But Andrew Wilkinson at Interactive Brokers suggests that tax season is to blame. “I have become increasingly convinced that tax selling is likely a factor in those stocks’ declines,” he said in a note titled “April is the Cruellest Month”

The rationale is this: 2013 was a very good year for most investors, and active investors would likely have found themselves with a series of short and long term gains, and thus a hefty tax bill due next week. If those investors remained fully invested in the market, using margin to trade the momentum stocks, they would need to sell some of their holdings to pay the IRS. As the stocks began to decline last week with the first wave of taxable sellers, the selling continued, fuelled by fears of margin calls, and the recent rout was on.

Both Tesla and Facebook have regained some of their composure this week with Tesla up 4% and Facebook gaining 2.4% as of midday.

Apple/quotes/zigman/68270/delayed/quotes/nls/aaplAAPL shares are fractionally off in the wake of a Cantor Fitzgerald report suggesting that despite stronger-than-usual sales of Apple products in March, quarterly numbers may fall short of expectations.

Stocks are modestly higher. Traders put the brakes on three days of selling in a choppy session. Neil Hennessy, chairman of Hennessy Funds says the market has not yet reached a top. He says the recent weakness gives investors who are out of the market a chance to “get their toes wet.”

Confused investors looking for advice on where biotechnology stocks are headed might get a clue from the head of one company in the sector.

Or not.

Rajesh C. Shrotriya, chairman and chief executive of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, says with conviction that a lot of biotech shares are overvalued because, simply put, they’ve been “selling a dream” instead of focusing on fundamentals. Shrotriya stops short of declaring the current state of affairs a “bubble,” though he understands why some investors see it that way.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Narayana Kocherlakota on Tuesday said the central bank is not doing all it can to promote faster job creation and a quicker decline in the U.S. unemployment rate. In a speech in Rochester, Minn., Kocherlakota restated his belief that the Fed is moving too fast to reduce economic stimulus meant to boost growth. He would prefer the Fed to maintain an easy-money policy until unemployment falls a lot further from its 6.7% rate – or inflation rises a lot faster.

In March, Kocherlakota was the sole Fed official to dissent when the bank voted to trim its bond-buying economy stimulus program by another $10 billion a month. He said inflation remains too low at 1% and the jobless rate too high to justify such a reduction. “We have to conclude that the [Federal Open Market Committee] is underperforming with respect to its goal of promoting maximum employment,” he said

The S&P 500 utilities sector stocks are finding lots of love today. The sub index is up 1.2% today and gained more than 10% since the start of the year. Typically, that is not a good sign when defensive stocks outperform growth stocks – because that is the classic case of a bear market.

Chris Gaffney, senior market strategist at EverBank says that it is not always the case.

“We are seeing a rotation from high-growth stocks to cyclicals and defensives. But we do like utilities, especially infrastructure companies, those dealing with exporting energy – because there is a lot of organic growth in those companies.

The abrupt downturn on Friday, coupled with an exhausted market, make us believe that in the near term stocks will likely trade sideways, writes Nuveen’s Bob Doll in a recent commentary.

First quarter earnings seem to have been negatively affected by weather disruptions, currency and emerging market weakness, Doll says. It’s been a tough quarter, so things should be watched more closely compared to the last several quarters.

An eclectic group of companies intend to debut on U.S. stock exchanges this week in what could be the busiest week for IPOs since 2007.

In all, 14 companies plan to price their shares, according to data provider Dealogic. If all proceed as planned, it would mark the most IPOs in one calendar week since November 2007. The total value of the deals could be $4.8 billion, assuming all offerings price at the middle of their indicated ranges. That would be the most for one week since last December.

Story Conversation

About The Tell

The Tell is MarketWatch’s fast and engaging look at trends and themes in the day’s markets. Drawing on our reporters, analysts and commentators around the world, as well as selecting the best of the rest online, The Tell is all about the pulse of the markets through news, insight and strategic information to help you make the best investing decisions. Got a tip? Tell us at TheTell@MarketWatch.com